Party Crashers

This year’s Champions League Final is played in London to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Football Association. Ironically, no English club have made it to the final. Instead the notorious party crashers for English football have put up camp at Wembley: Germany.

However, Germany were not always party crashers for England. This role is held by a FIFA XI who in 1953 brought England close to defeat in a memorial match for the 90th anniversary of the Football Association. A month later, Hungary were indeed spoiling the party with an emphatic 6-3 win at Wembley.

In 1966 Wolfgang Weber’s late goal secured extra time in the World Cup Final. A late goal under such circumstances would have meant trouble for England, instead they rose to the occasion and scored twice. Another Anglo-German contest 4 years later saw the Germans victorious for the first time in a competitive match against England. Bobby Moore and his colleague looked certain winners but something changed after an hour and Germany surged back. It was 2-2 after 90 minutes and a certain Gerd Müller, scored in extra-time to kick England out of the World Cup.

More agony for England came 20 years later, again in a World Cup. The semi-final of Turin was the tragic end for a great team assembled by Bobby Robson. In Pete Davies words:

We all know the cruel way it ended…The penalty shoot out’s a piece of ersatz TV drama, irrelevant to the game of football.

This year’s final at Wembley is part of the festivities for the 150th anniversary of The FA and ironically, 2 German teams will contest it.